STANFORD REUNION
by J7339
Summary: Lucas receives an invitation to a reunion at Stanford University. After being persuaded to go at the last minute, Lucas embarks on trip of rekindled memories, old classroom friends, bullys, and reliving some of his darker moments before SeaQuest.


**STANFORD REUNION **

**By Jules**

**Author Notes: Sorry – but there are a few – this plot is going to take a while to take shape. The beginning of the story has changed a number of times. The first parts are supposed to be full of fun, some angst, but mostly good times and enjoyment rather than some other stories that I have written.**

**Don't worry, the baddies are coming, but not until much later in the story, so please bear with me.**

**Please note that I do not know anything about University life. I have not been and most of my information comes from looking up resources, and talking to friends who have. Some of my ideas and scenes may seem more high school orientated rather than a college or university environment, so I apologize in advance if that is the case.**

**Most of the plot is completely original except for a couple of scenes that I look from TV shows and movies that I have watched. I did take some clues about his life at University from various episodes where it was mentioned briefly – and other pieces I took from my own stories that I had already made up.**

**Most importantly – this for anybody who has already read my story FRIENDSHIP, of course I introduced the crew to an original character Joshua Shepherd or "Shep". So this story should precede that one because of its ending, but you will just have to suspend the idea that crew of the SeaQuest had never met any of Lucas's friends ****in person before then.**

**I am going to have him in this story as a major character again in addition to that of "Wolfman" from Node 3. I have given Nick the actor's real surname as it wasn't stated in the script anywhere what his surname was – unless I missed it. Same goes for Juliana's surname.**

**In this story, I am writing Shep's character in a way that Lucas talks to him more freely to him and Nick about how he is feeling or anything that is going on. More so than Bridger and the crew that I have written in other stories.**

**I am making a very brief mention of Mr Henry Woodcock, the teacher that I used in FRIENDSHIP but he will not be making an appearance – just talked about – sort of trying to keep the stories all together in some kind of cohesion for my work. **

**For this story it is assumed that Lucas is seventeen and three quarters – 3 months off 18 or so. In the show – it is stated that Lucas graduated from Stanford at the age of 14 years. For my plot line – I want it to be that Lucas did 3.5 years at University – missing the graduation ceremony and a few other things – for reasons yet to be explained in the story itself.**

**For my story, Juliana is not a genius like she was on Node 3, neither is Nick. In this story Shep was with Lucas from the very beginning, but Nick only spent the last year with both of them. There will be a cast of other people that will be introduced as time goes on.**

**Also in this story, I have gone back to the idea that the SeaQuest crew don't know what happened on NODE 3 – including the World Bank and other hacking, or Lucas being choked by Clemens. I have already done that in my other story "A Perfect World". There will be references to the hacking and the electoral fixing – but not in great detail.**

**Nick's character I intend to write as the more cheekier and daring of the three friends, coming up with the wrong comment at the right time, and quick to say or act before Lucas and Shep. **

**Unfortunately because of the way I am writing this, Bridger, Kristin and Ben will appear not much more than a third wheel for quite a lot of the story, merely watching or being on the sidelines rather than having a lot more involvement than that until much later in the storyline.**

**The rest of the SeaQuest crew will make cameo appearances during the story, and a little bit more towards the end only.**

**Oh – and Bridger and the crew really need to stop listening in on Lucas's vid-link calls – a bad habit that I have at the moment that I need to cure in a few stories. But I have this fettish about Bridger and the crew having to see it or hear the things that happen rather than just told later.**

**Sorry – but the vid-link call being overhead is quite long and involved. I need to set up some of the issues for Lucas before the main part of the story begins.**

**Enough waffling on – lets see if I can write this to read…………….**

**CHAPTER 1 – AN INVITATION**

Commander Ford was just about to hand over command to the Captain. His shift was ending for the day and Bridger's was just starting and wouldn't end until midnight or so.

"Good Evening, Jonathan," Bridger greeted his right-hand man. "Everything in order?"

"On the Bridge, and in the ocean outside the SeaQuest, Captain," Ford answered cryptically. He wanted to talk to his Senior Officer about their young computer genius and his contribution to the staff lately.

There hadn't been any incidents lately or complaints about the young man's work, and even today Lucas had proven himself adept at his duties. Ford couldn't help but notice a distinct change in the teenager's demeanour, more so today than any other day.

There may have been hints of something troubling him for a couple of weeks now, but during the last eight hours, Lucas had barely spoken to any of the other crew members on his shift, and seemed sullen and reserved. Ford knew that the Captain would want to hear any concerns he had, but he needed to word it correctly.

Bridger was an astute man however, and picked up on the Commander's attempt at subtly, "Let's hear it, Commander," he said, expecting a full and honest answer.

"Sir, is there anything wrong with Lucas over the past few days. Have you or Doctor Westphalen noticed anything?"

This statement certainly made Bridger take notice and he knew that Ford wouldn't have brought something to his attention unless he didn't know how to handle it himself. For someone of rank and experience like Jonathan, that was fairly rare aboard the SeaQuest.

"I haven't seen him for most of the day," the Captain replied. "I tried to talk to him in the Mess Hall this morning at breakfast before he started his shift here on the Bridge, but he looked like he was in a bad mood."

"Well, I can't vouch for him being in a bad mood, Captain. He didn't appear to be angry at anything to me here during the past eight hours, but he certainly wasn't being himself."

"What do you mean?"

"His work cannot be faulted. He was watching two screens for most of his time on the Bridge today. When I asked him about the W.S.K.R.S. security updates, he had already completed them, but he seemed distracted about something."

"Because you requested that he get as much experience as possible during his time on the Bridge, I had him checking some sensors as well. At one point it looked as though he wasn't watching them at all, but focused on another screen he was completing something else on."

"When I asked him about a particular co-ordinate, he gave me the answer straight away, but he hadn't bothered to look at the first screen where he should have gotten the data from. I reminded him that he needed to be looking at the screen."

"What was this something else?" Bridger interrupted briefly.

"I don't know, Sir," Ford answered. "He appeared quite perturbed that I was trying to look over his shoulder at what he was doing. When he gave any answers about the sensors, they were all accurate from what I could tell, but he just didn't seem to be taking any amount of interest in what he should have been doing."

"Did you say something to him?" the Captain asked, trying to think of a logical reason for Jonathan's description of Lucas's secretiveness and disassociation with the task at hand.

Lucas had been working on the Bridge now for quite some time. When the Captain had first made the offer, it was only to be a couple of hours a week, just to include him in the day to day operation of the vessel and give him time with the other crew members.

Now, that he was more confident about his duties, Lucas's shifts were now eight hours a day almost every day, like the other crew members. At first Ford thought the length of time might have proven too much for someone so young, but to his credit, Lucas had adapted to the longer hours and showed up on time on most occasions, and had become a real asset to the crew.

At times Bridger thought the teenager spent way too much time on his own with his computers and his programming. Most of the time he ate at different hours to the crew and didn't attend many of the social activities that were organized unless Krieg dragged him along.

"No, Captain. Like I said, I couldn't fault his work, he does everything I ask of him, without complaint or questioning, but today he appeared distracted, withdrawn. He barely said two words to anybody else the whole time he was here."

"Its coming to the end of a very long tour, Jonathan, maybe he is just waiting to get off the boat for a couple of weeks," Bridger suggested.

"I have already got this great vacation with him, and Kristin planned, and he specifically asked if he could invite Ben along. I am just waiting for him to tell me the destination."

"You might be right, Sir, I was just making an observation," Ford offered, but wasn't convinced that this was the real problem with the youngest crew member.

"I thought he would be too busy planning this trip with Ben to even worry about anything else. I told him almost three weeks ago about wanting him to choose the place to go, but he still hasn't told me where he is thinking about," Bridger explained.

Ford smiled a little, trying to picture in his head the choices of destinations that Lucas and Krieg could come up with together to spend a holiday. The Commander knew that the Captain had been more than grateful over the past few months about how much attention the Supply and Morale Officer had been paying towards Lucas.

The pair of them could usually be found together, and although he was loathe to admit it too much, Lucas was more relaxed and confident in Krieg's presence. The man had an unorthodox approach to their friendship, and Ford didn't necessarily understand it completely, but be couldn't deny the positive results that everyone noticed onboard.

So in reward for those extra efforts, that Ben never mentioned, but Bridger certainly noticed, Krieg had been told that he could come on the holiday with the teenager, together with the Captain and Doctor Westphalen if that is what Lucas wanted.

Lucas had readily agreed to the idea of Ben coming with the other two adults, but he had not given any hints or suggestions as to where he might choose. None of the crew was any wiser though, most of them speculating that if Krieg and Lucas were involved together, then it would probably involve a trip to a theme park.

Apart from Lucas's age, there were a lot of things different about him than other crew members, not to mention his intellect.

He was a complex person and rarely let others know how he was feeling or thinking unless he specifically wanted them to.

Ben was probably the closest friend that the boy had apart from the Captain and Doctor Westphalen. The rest of the senior crew always had time for him and enjoyed his company, but today Lucas had practically ignored Krieg and made a particular point to carry out his work unaided and without consulting anybody else on the Bridge during the entire shift.

* * *

"Do you know where Lucas is now?" Bridger asked.

"Not since he left the Bridge," Ford replied.

It was now that Ben Krieg entered the Bridge, and saw Ford and the Captain talking together and then looking back at him with interest.

"Something I can help you with, Sir?" Krieg asked, walking up to the two of them.

"Have you seen Lucas since his shift ended, Ben?" Bridger enquired.

"Um, no actually I haven't. Did you want me to go and find him?"

"Yes, please if you don't mind," Bridger replied with gratitude.

"Is there a problem, Captain?" Krieg asked. If Bridger was asking him to check up on Lucas, there must be a reason for it.

And when it came to Lucas, Ben wasn't willing to take a simple _'no' _or _'it doesn't matter'_ approach.

"No, Ben," Bridger said with a laugh, almost able to read Krieg's thoughts. "Jonathan thought he seemed a bit pre-occupied today whilst doing his shift on the Bridge."

"Pre-occupied?" Krieg prompted, not having heard any of Ford's comments to the Captain.

"I thought maybe he was still trying to think of where to go on the vacation that I spoke to you about," Bridger suggested.

"Maybe, but since you asked me, he hasn't really spoken to me about it," Ben admitted candidly.

"At all?" Bridger said, sounding a little more concerned about Lucas's evasiveness of the whole idea.

"No. I did try and ask him one night when he was in his cabin, but he was reading something and I couldn't keep his attention for very long. I wanted him to enjoy the holiday, so was leaving the choice of destination entirely up to him."

Ford exchanged curious looks with Miguel Ortiz and Tim O'Neill at this statement, but at the same time pleased that

Krieg was willing to let Lucas lead the way for a change in relation to their on-shore plans.

"What was he reading? Something on the computer?" Bridger surmised.

"Not that I recall. Some piece of paper," Ben informed him. "I didn't see what was written on it."

Bridger tried to think what the teenager might have been reading. Perhaps it was what had been causing his distractionover the past couple of weeks. He had always tried to ensue in Lucas that he could come and talk about anything that was bothering him.

But as usual with Lucas, the boy played his cards close to his chest and occasionally it took the other crew members, like Jonathan Ford today to bring their concerns to the Captain's attention. More often than not, Bridger was able to gauge the teenager's mood swings, though it had taken some practice.

Bridger knew from experience that if he tried to push too much, Lucas would accuse him of hovering around him for no reason and the real reason would never be revealed.

"I will go and find him," Ben said, walking towards the large clam doors.

"Keep me informed," Bridger called out, and a brief hand gesture from Ben signaled that he had heard the request.

* * *

The first place that Ben looked for his young friend was Lucas's cabin, located on the Mammal Engineering level of the SeaQuest. Ben briefly knocked and waited for a response, but when he opened the hatch door, the room was empty.

From the looks of it, the boy hadn't been there for most of the day.

Ben left and headed to the next logical place to find the teenager, the science labs. Perhaps the teenager was working with Doctor Westphalen on some project.

"Good Evening, Ben," Kristin greeted the Lieutenant when he entered the labs. "Can I help you with something?"

"Um, no, Doc, I told the Captain I would come and find Lucas," Ben answered.

"Lucas hasn't been in here all day today," Kristin informed him. "I haven't seen him since last night."

"Hmmmm," Ben responded, thinking it was odd that the doctor hadn't had much contact with Lucas that day. Usually she could be counted on to be wanting to check on him and make sure he was eating and taking care of himself.

"He isn't with Nathan on the Bridge then," Kristin surmised from the statement that Krieg had come looking for the teenager at the Captain's request.

Krieg shook his head in a negative response.

"Ford mentioned to the Captain that he seemed a bit funny on the Bridge during his shift today," Ben explained.

"Funny?" Kristin prompted, assuming that it had nothing to do with making a joke.

"Distracted," Ben offered as a better word. "He didn't talk to anybody almost the whole time, including me."

Kristin stopped what she was doing and thought for a minute. Much like Jonathan Ford, the comments about ignoring Ben sounded the most out of character for Lucas. Now her concern was beginning to grow.

"Come on, lets go and find him," Kristin said, knowing she wouldn't be able to concentrate on her own work until they found Lucas. "I bet he hasn't been anywhere near food today," she added, knowing the teenager's poor dietary habits.

Ben and Kristin made their way through the corridors looking for Lucas. After a few minutes, they could hear the distinct sound of splashing and a brief laugh coming from the Moon Pool.

The two of them exchanged a look of relief and a smile thinking that Lucas was spending time with Darwin swimming and probably playing their favourite game of splash football.

When they approached the Moon Pool, Lucas wasn't playing about in the water as much as they expected. Actually almost the opposite, he was leaning heavily against the edge of the pool, looking rather tired.

"_Lucas play_," the dolphin chirped through the vocorder.

"No, Darwin, sorry, not today."

Ben and Kristin though that to be odd that the teenager was refusing to play. Normally the Moon Pool was the first place Lucas came to relax and wind down.

The splashing they had heard a moment or two ago, was the slap of the dolphin's tale in the water. The mammal was still trying to get the boy to play.

"Sorry, Dar," Lucas said and started getting out of the pool. He grabbed a towel that was hanging nearby and started drying himself off.

Darwin swam off down the aqua tubes, probably going outside the SeaQuest to feed. Lucas watched the dolphin go, but was too tired to call out to his animal friend and try and make amends.

"Hey Lucas," Krieg said from behind as he approached the Moon Pool.

Lucas jumped out of his skin at the voice, not having heard anybody approach, "Geez, Ben, did you have to do that!"

"Sorry, buddy, I didn't mean to scare you," Krieg apologized.

Kristin walked into the area, but tried to hide her intentions of checking up on him by working at one of the nearbyscience stations. She kept her attention focused on what she could hear being said between Lucas and Ben, without interrupting.

"What are you doing here?" the teenager asked not really looking at his friend when he asked. He was waiting for Ben to say something about what he had been asked to do earlier that morning.

Lucas didn't go looking for approval from Ben very often; it was one part of their friendship that was an unwritten thing. Ben had always been a supporter of his work. But after such an early start to the day, it would have been nice to hear a _'thank you'_ from his friend for the job he had done.

"Coming to find you, actually," Ben said with a smile, hoping to cheer the kid up. He seemed a little bit down about something.

"And?" Lucas prompted, waiting. He wasn't going to deliberately ask for the thank you, but would give a subtle hint or clue if necessary.

"And what?" Ben said, a little confused. "Bridger sent me to find you."

"Oh, is that all," Lucas said dejectedly, rolling his eyes at the cotton wool treatment he always got from the Captain.

It wasn't as though he didn't like it sometimes. Quite the opposite, but there were times that he felt smothered and not enough room to breathe.

"What's with you today?" Ben asked plainly.

"Nothing," Lucas said too quickly, beginning to walk away from his friend. "Glad I could be of so much help," he added as he exited the Moon Pool area.

"What was that all about?" Kristin walked over and asked.

"You tell me and we will both know," Krieg replied.

"Let's go see Nathan," Kristin suggested. "His shift should be finished in a couple of hours. Maybe he can talk to him."

Ben nodded his head, still a little concerned that Lucas thought something was his fault. He had no idea what.

* * *

When Lucas left the Moon Pool, still a little miffed at Ben, he headed towards his own cabin, but only stayed long enough to change into clean clothes.

The teenager then went to the Mess Hall, and grabbed a hot coffee, ready to start his other work. He needed the coffee, knowing it was going to be a long night again. The swim had rejuvenated his tired body a little, but no where near what he had hoped for. _'God he was so tired.'_

Lucas started walking back to his own cabin, but then thought against that, hoping to find somewhere a bit more secluded so that he wouldn't be disturbed in the next few hours.

The Captain was doing his shift on the Bridge he thought to himself, and wouldn't be back in his own quarters for hours. None of the other crew members would dare to go in there; it was the perfect place to work uninterrupted for a while.

Briefly he did go back to his cabin, grabbing his laptop, some disks and a bunch of papers that he was working on and headed for the Captain's quarters.

It was now 9pm at night, and he had hoped to get at least another six or seven hours of solid work in before getting some sleep, but three hours was probably more realistic.

Bridger's shift would end about midnight. Then he would be forced to go back to his own cabin because otherwise the Captain would be chewing him out about working until all hours of the night.

Once entering Bridger's quarters, he smiled at the quietness, exactly what he had been looking for all day. There wasn't many places he could go on SeaQuest for any length of time before someone came looking for him.

Setting up his laptop on the central console, Lucas connected his email and call system up so that any incoming messages would be diverted to the Captain's quarters. He was expecting Shep to make his usual vid-link hook up tonight. They did it every few days, and sometimes more frequently to discuss the work he was doing and the projects he had been given.

The coffee cup he had brought with him was now completely empty, but he could feel himself growing more tired. He left the room and went back to the Mess Hall and grabbed two fresh cups of coffee. Thankfully nobody else was about this time of night to query why he had two cups or why he needed so much caffeine.

* * *

Whilst Lucas had been getting more coffee, Ben and Kristin had gone to the Bridge to talk to the Captain.

"Did you find him?" Bridger asked Krieg, but seeing Kristin entering with the Lieutenant, he couldn't help but worry about what they would tell him.

"Yes, I found him. He was with Darwin in the Moon Pool. He has left now, headed back to his cabin now I guess," Krieg stated.

Kristin could see Nathan looking at her, waiting for her opinion, "He did seem distracted by something," she admitted.

"Lucas was annoyed at me for some reason," Ben told the Captain. "Almost as though he was expecting me to say something."

"About what?" Bridger questioned.

"I have no idea. I have barely spoken to him today," Krieg remarked.

"He looked a little tired," Kristin noted.

"Lucas has been looking _'more than a little tired' _for weeks now," Bridger stated matter-of-factly. Even he had noted the boy's peculiar sleeping habits and the odd hours that he was keeping. To his credit though, the teenager hadn't complained about anything or snapped at anybody enough to rouse suspicion that he was overtired.

By now, some of the other crew members on the Bridge were listening intently to the conversation about Lucas.

"Do any of you know what is bothering him?" he asked them all.

The crew members present shook their head. They were none the wiser either, but each of them confirmed that they noticed the teenager being distracted and withdrawn earlier in the day.

"Okay, I think its time I go and sort this out now," Bridger said firmly, about to walk off the Bridge and find Lucas.

Before he could do that, Tim O'Neill spoke up, "Captain, there is a vid-link call being diverted to your quarters."

"My quarters?" Bridger repeated, thinking it sounded odd. "But I am here. Who would………..," but he didn't finish the thought.

"At least we know where he is now," Kristin whispered to Ben and the other crew members.

"What would he be doing in there this time of night?" Ben queried. Lucas liked the solitude of his own cabin, and usually only sought Bridger's quarters when he wasn't feeling too great.

Commander Ford was returning to the Bridge just now, wanting to ask the Captain something, but was filled in about what was going on by Ben when he heard O'Neill's comment about a call in Bridger's quarters.

A few minutes earlier, Lucas was fighting the urge to fall asleep at the centre console. His head was leaning against his folded arms and he knew that the coffee wasn't going to keep him awake much longer.

Instead, the teenager got to his feet and walked over to the couch, spreading out some papers but then returning to the console and sitting down once more. The short period of activity did nothing to keep him alert and as much as he wanted to deny it, he couldn't do anything about how heavy his eyes were becoming.

* * *

The next sound the Captain and crew heard was the voice of Lucas as he answered the vid-link call. When he answered the call, he had not lifted his head to check which button on the console he was pressing. The vid-link did connect, but he had also enabled the call to be heard on the Bridge.

With his mind halfway between sleep and awake, he didn't pick up on his mistake or the fact that everything he was about to say could be heard by others.

"Yeah," came a very tired sounding response from Lucas. Even without being able to see into the Captain's quarters, Lucas's family and friends could hear the fatigue in his voice.

Kristin was about to say something to Nathan, when he signaled for them to be silent for a few moments. She didn't like it, but could see the Captain's point. She could see the worried looks on all of those present about whether Lucas was alright, especially Ben.

"We might just find out what is going on," Bridger whispered to them. The crew remained quiet, listening to the call, but feeling just a little guilty about listening in on one of the teenager's private conversations.

Before they could work out the identity of the caller, the person on the other end of the vid-link confirmed their concerns about him physically.

"Man, you look totally wiped……….," the voice stated simply to his friend.

"Thanks very much, Shep, nice to hear from you too," Lucas shot back, lifting his head up and looking at his friend.

At hearing the name 'Shep', Bridger now knew the caller to be one of Lucas's close internex friends. He hadn't met the boy face to face yet, but he was in constant contact with Lucas. Every couple of days, Lucas would always share something new that he had heard from his friend upworld.

Bridger informed the other crew members who the other boy was. Lucas had mentioned once that his real name was Joshua Shepherd, but the Captain had rarely heard the teenager call the other boy anything but 'Shep'.

"You look like you could sleep for a week…..," Shep jibed playfully.

In truth, a little worried about just how tired his friend did look. He was aware of Lucas unusual sleep pattern and workload, but couldn't miss the disheveled look and dark circles of fatigue.

"What are you my mother?" Lucas said in self-defence.

"Please, comparing me to her is an insult," Shep responded in an over-dramatic tone of voice.

Bridger certainly raised an eyebrow at this exchange between the two friends. During the short time he had gotten to hear about Shep, the Captain learned that Lucas could often related a lot easier about things that had happened in his past.

Ordinarily, any comment about family, especially his real family from any member of the crew aboard the SeaQuest would earn the responsible party the silent treatment or worse. But somehow, because it was Shep that hurled the comment, Lucas barely blinked at any offence, but instead took it in his stride.

"Come on……. what's going on with you?" Shep asked.

"You don't really want to know," Lucas replied.

It was time for Bridger to look shocked again at the casualness of the teenager's response. Here they were, the friends and family that spent most of the time living with him, pleading with him to talk to them about any problems he might have.

Ben had asked the same question only hours earlier and the teenager had clammed up and refused to talk to him.

Kristin was happy to see that Bridger's comment about finding out what was going on might be about to come true. They all waited patiently as they could for the conversation to continue, hoping that Lucas wouldn't realize his mistake about linking the call to the Bridge.

"Not sending you too much work am I?" Shep asked.

"No, no, nothing like that," Lucas answered truthfully, "And don't you stop any of it coming either. You know how important it is to me."

Ben looked questioningly at Bridger, wondering what work Lucas was doing for his friend. It was no secret that Lucas could be counted on to be working on innumerable projects at any one time for SeaQuest, but none of them knew about any other outside work that he was doing.

What was it for? What was so important to Lucas?

"I know its important to you Lucas, that's why we teamed up," Shep said to his friend.

"I don't know Shep, I guess it's a lot of things lately, getting me down."

"Like what?" the other boy asked, unaware that the crew on the Bridge were thinking exactly the same question.

"You sure want to hear it all?"

"Pull up a chair then, it may take a while," Lucas said, sighing audibly as he tried to get his thoughts in order.

At least by telling his friend how he was feeling, he might be able to put off falling asleep for just a little while longer.

When it came to Shep, there was no one else, except maybe Captain Bridger that knew him better. He at least felt like he owed it to his friend to tell him the whole truth.

* * *

The crew on the Bridge who were not already sitting at their stations, now took up the vacant chairs and waited for Lucas to tell his friend what had been bothering him.

If they all knew, perhaps they could help more on SeaQuest without alerting Lucas to the fact that they knew. The teenager was usually very private and they respected that he might find it difficult to come out and voice any problem.

"I guess I am feeling a bit tired lately," Lucas admitted openly to Shep. "I mean for the past three months since the tour began I am still getting my usual three or four hours sleep a night. Up until now it has been enough."

Kristin frowned at the teenager's admittance of just how few hours of sleep he was getting on a regular basis. She had tried to find a solution to the problem many times, and even used threats when she became frustrated with him.

"How many hours do you do on the Bridge now?" Shep asked.

"Only eight hours, five days a week. Those hours haven't been a problem. I finished today at four, and then did a few hours for Kristin in the science labs."

"It sounds like a long day."

"I went for a swim earlier with Darwin, trying to keep myself awake. I wanted to take a look on that new work you sent me. You should have the first one back by now, the others might take a bit more time."

"Already?" Shep announced sounding surprised. "I thought they would take you a little bit longer."

"Like I said, just one. I don't know what that jerk was trying to achieve, but that program is never going to work. May as well give him the bad news early."

"What about the others?"

'_Other what'_ Bridger and his crew were thinking, but kept listening.

"One or two of them sound okay and there is one that looks like it might actually be of use." Lucas said cryptically.

"You are going to have to get tougher with the company before they send such rubbish to me for you to check, Lucas," Shep suggested.

"I don't mind the work, like I said, don't stop sending it. But I just wish they would do a little bit more background work before they waste my time and their money."

"I guess that is part of the reason why they ask you in the first place," Shep commented.

"Maybe, but this is getting off track a little," Lucas interjected. "I want to talk to you in a few days when we arrive back about some of what I have worked on. We have to set up some guidelines."

"Anyway, between all of that today, and half the stuff that I am doing for the crew, there just aren't enough hours in the day." Lucas spoke candidly.

"You might have to start saying 'no', Lucas," Shep remarked.

"I don't know how you do it anyway. Stuck under the ocean for nine months of the year with 200 adults telling you what to do."

"It's not that. I guess I never really thought of it like that," Lucas answered, lacing his hands behind his head. "I don't mind helping any of them out, except maybe one person."

The crew on the Bridge all began to feel a little guilty at the small jobs they had been asking to do lately. Individually, they didn't sound like much, but it wouldn't take much for the number of them to pile up. And Lucas usually didn't say no.

Bridger and Ben wondered who the one person was that Lucas wasn't so keen on helping out.

"I like helping them," Lucas continued, "They are my friends. But just once in a while, you know, it would be nice for them to come knocking on my cabin, just as friends."

"To come and say, '_Hey Lucas, great to see you today, did you catch the game last night. Do you think they will make the playoffs.'_ or _'What music are you listening to today Lucas?'_ Just simple things."

"Not to want you just for your brain," Shep finished off, knowing it must be difficult for someone in his friend's position.

"Yeah," Lucas said quietly.

"What about talking to that Captain guy," Shep suggested.

"Bridger, oh yeah, well he's great and all," Lucas started to say, unaware of the smile that he invoked in the Captain at such a simple few words. "The Doc too, when she isn't chasing and hunting me down to eat properly."

"Nice to know we are held in such high regard," Kristin whispered with a smile on her face to Nathan.

"But they already have enough to do instead of listening to me whine about my problems."

"What about that goofy fellow you keep telling me about?"

Lucas laughed a little at Shep's statement, "No, Ben is great. I couldn't ask for a better friend. He did have me ticked off a little today though."

"Goofy fellow!" Krieg whispered indignantly, sending the rest of the crew on the Bridge into fits of quiet laughter at the description of his personality.

"Could it have killed him to say 'thank you'? I mean not many of the other crew members say it either when I do stuff for them, but it would be nice to hear every once in a while."

Ben's smile disappeared as he tried to rack his brain and figure out what he was supposed to be saying 'thank you' for. He now understood why the teenager had been so short with him by the Moon Pool, but was no closer to the reason.

"I haven't asked Lucas to do anything today, or yesterday for that matter," he said in his own defence.

"But I guess it wasn't Ben who did the asking in the first place," Lucas said to Shep.

Ben was clearly more confused now and could see the questioning looks he was receiving.

"I guess that is why I am a little more tired today," Lucas began explaining to Shep. "It took a little longer than I planned last night to finish off that stuff you sent, so I didn't get to bed until about 4.00am this morning."

"What time did you get up?" Shep asked.

"I didn't wake up on my own accord. Do you know what time that _asshole _was pounding on my hatch door this morning?"

"Luckily my cabin is a fair way from the rest of the crew quarters; otherwise he would have woken up somebody else apart from me. Maybe even the Captain or Kristin and that wouldn't have gone down well."

Bridger and the others looked at each other, wondering who had would have been beating on the boy's door at any time of the early morning.

Kristin agreed with Lucas that anybody banging on his door without sufficient reason was asking for trouble. Especially after hearing the awful long hours that the teenager had already been keeping for the majority of the current tour.

"Five thirty!" Lucas practically yelled at his friend. "Now I am normally a really nice guy, but that Cooper was banging on my door so loud."

"Cooper?" Shep asked, interrupting Lucas's train of thought, but not recognizing the name.

"Yeah, that's the one guy that ticks me off to no end on this boat. We just agree to not get along if you know what I mean."

Bridger and Ben exchanged puzzled glances, not knowing of any past between Lucas and Cooper. They knew who the crew member was, a little weasel of a guy that only did what he had to whilst onboard and nothing else. Ben didn't like him either.

"So why didn't you tell ignore him pounding on the door. Or better yet, tell him to rack off and take a hike?"

"Well I did ignore him at first," Lucas explained. "But he kept knocking and thumping, so he was determined to make sure that I wasn't going to get any more sleep anyway. I opened the door ready to give him a mouthful, but then he barges his way into my room, telling me that Ben wanted some help with something urgently."

"No I didn't," Krieg said, getting cranky himself that Cooper would not only disturb the teenager so early, but outright lie about wanting something done on his behalf. He was going to have some words to say to this Cooper.

"Anyway, Ben doesn't even need to ask. He knows I will do anything for him. So I did it. Finished the program that Cooper said he wanted about 7.50am. Enough time to grab a coffee and head to the Bridge, ready to start my shift for the day."

* * *

Lucas yawned loudly, "Sorry, so I was doing okay until this morning," he said sheepishly.

"So you have been surviving most of the day on an hour sleep," Shep taunted him, understanding a little more why his friend looked like hell.

"Something like that."

"Well that covers today and yesterday, but you said other things have been getting you down," Shep pointed out. "That can't be the whole story."

"Can't put anything past you, Shep," Lucas said with a small smile of gratitude. There had been many times in his life when he couldn't have thanked his friend enough for looking out for him.

"You better not try, Lucas," Shep warned, but he too was smiling as he spoke.

"Well the rest of it is a little bit more complicated, Shep. I don't exactly know how to tell them," Lucas offered as the beginning of an explanation.

"Tell me first then," he said to Lucas.

"I don't even know if I have it all worked out in my own head, let alone be able to explain it to anyone."

"Spit it out," Shep ordered.

The crew on the Bridge were also wondering what the teenager was having so much trouble with saying.

"It's this place," Lucas announced point blankly. "SeaQuest."

"You don't like being on SeaQuest?" Shep asked, trying to guess what the problem was.

"No, no, that's not it at all. Like I said, hard to explain," Lucas said, exhaling sharply and blowing the hair over his forehead in exasperation.

'I love being here, please don't get me wrong," Lucas began.

At this statement Ben and Bridger relaxed a little more. Afraid for a moment what Lucas might be trying to say when they first heard him mention about the boat.

Lucas hesitated for a few more seconds, trying to get the words exactly right for Shep.

"How do I tell them that I feel like I am drowning here, when all of the water is on the outside?"

"Drowning?" Ben mouthed silently to Bridger, thinking that it was an odd form of metaphor. Bridger shrugged his shoulders, not able to offer any information either, but worried about what the teenager thought he couldn't tell them.

"You mean holding you back, because of your age. And thinking that you don't have enough experience yet," Shep surmised.

"Partly," Lucas said, noting that Shep didn't quite get the whole picture.

"Take for instance my shifts on the Bridge," Lucas continued. "Ford treats me like I am a moron."

Jonathan Ford looked up sharply at this admission from Lucas, thinking that he had done everything he could to teach the teenager his duties on the Bridge correctly.

"He asked me today to tell him about some stupid W.S.K.R. diagnostics, whether I had updated them or not. And then some spiel about how important they were."

Ford and Bridger were both trying to figure out why Lucas thought such duties were not for someone who was just starting out in a Naval career. Both of them had to spend a lot more time doing much menial checks when they went through their respective stints in the Academy.

Shep laughed a little at Lucas's explanation, beginning to understand what his friend was feeling. "Do they know that you wrote the program that allows for the updates?"

"Yeah, well I don't know, probably not," Lucas answered. "He thought because I was doing my work on the Bridge today that I didn't know what was going on with the other screen."

"Please, I have three screens going in front of me now," Shep said to his friend, knowing that Lucas could handle any number of screens more than him.

"Heh, yeah, they don't understand I have done up to six screens at a time before," Lucas said with pride. It hadn't been for long, but computers were something that was natural to him like breathing.

"I don't do that here, because Bridger would have a coronary if he saw it," Lucas added with a laugh.

The crew on the Bridge could only looked shocked at each other with the information they could hear coming from the teenager.

"I thought my little tantrum before NODE 3 would have made a difference," Lucas said. "They didn't believe me when I said that I keep everything running."

"Do they know that Noyce has got you writing the entire security program for the next tour?" Shep asked.

"No, no. Noyce asked me just as the tour was starting, whether I could handle it or not, together with the rest of my workload, but he wants to keep it all under wraps until we dock in a few days. He wants to have some big party or announcement or something to make it all official."

"Bill hasn't said a word to me," Bridger spoke, seeing that Ford was looking just as uninformed as he was. Neither of them knew anything about Noyce asking the teenager to complete something so complex as the security system for the SeaQuest.

Giving such an important task to someone so young was almost unheard of, not that they thought Lucas couldn't do it.

The teenager was obviously convinced that he could.

"Well, its all finished now. Testing is complete too; I just have to wait for Noyce to tell the Captain. I don't even know if he will tell him that I created it. I only told you because your not part of the crew, so my secret is safe with you, Shep."

"But you did get your share of the cash, didn't you. I hope you didn't do it out of the goodness of your heart?" Shep asked a little worriedly.

"Oh no, I got my share of the kitty," Lucas said with a laugh. "Cost the Admiral and the UEO a pretty sum it did, but he told me from the beginning that I could name my price."

"I have some spending money for a change," he added proudly. "Will continue to have too as I negotiated a maintenance package into the agreement for as long as I am aboard SeaQuest."

"You will have to tell me how much later," Shep taunted. Lucas had never been one to openly discuss money with.

"Just keep adding zeros," Lucas replied with a small grin of pride, but offered no further information.

Bridger and Ford tried to guess at how much Noyce would have allocated in the budget for a new security program.

If it was even half of what they were thinking and Lucas had been promised any sort of percentage from it, then the teenager would be looking more than a nice bonus in monetary terms.

Bridger could scarcely believe that somehow Noyce had coerced Lucas into taking on such an enormous project on his own, and had the teenager promise to keep it secret all this time on the tour.

If Lucas had been keeping this sort of thing secret for this length of time, what else didn't any of them know about. The teenager had certainly kept his end of the agreement, not only completing what had been asked apparently, but had not breathed a word of it to any of them. Neither achievement was any small feat.

"Do they know anything about what you achieved at NODE 3, or why Mycroft asked you to go there in the first place?" Shep asked his friend. He had not attended himself, but had gotten feedback not only from Lucas, but from mutual friends Juliana and Nick.

"No, they never asked what happened there, and I didn't offer any information," Lucas replied casually.

"Lucas you wrote a program that monitors the electoral results of a foreign country, Brazil," Shep reminded him.

The crew on the SeaQuest looked at each other, stunned at what they were hearing and learning about NODE 3. They were a little disappointed at Lucas's statement of them not wanting to know or not asking.

How was someone as young as Lucas able to create something like that and why? they silently asked themselves, still listening to the two friends talk.

"Did Nick get back to you on how that is working?" Lucas asked, genuinely interested.

"He says its working fine, Lucas. It will send up a red flag the minute any cheating is detected. You made it a better place over there Lucas. You stopped greed and corruption, even if it is only in a small area."

"Juliana tells me that she still doesn't know how you did it. There were like five major bridges for you to hack, man. I know none of us would have been able to do what you did."

"I didn't do much over there, Shep," Lucas said with a little humility.

"Didn't do much!" Shep said in shock. "Lucas you are the only person that I know living or dead that was able to hack into the World Bank database. No one has ever done that, not even Mycroft himself."

"Yeah, well I didn't exactly have a picnic over there like everybody thinks," Lucas stated, getting off his chair and walking about the area for a minute.

"But you can't tell anybody about what happened there, remember. Part of the Hackers Code."

Nathan frowned a little, remembering what he could about the couple of vid-link calls that he had shared with Lucas while the teenager was visiting NODE 3. At the time, the teenager seemed to be having a blast, even going so far as to mentioning wanting to stay longer.

Bridger had reminded Lucas that it was his responsibility to tell his parents, even though the strong parental part of him didn't want Lucas to go anywhere away from SeaQuest.

"This is all what I have been trying to say, Shep," Lucas said, sitting back down.

"That you don't want to do the Bridge shifts anymore?"

"Not that I don't want to do them," Lucas tried to explain. "I look at two screens during my shifts, just to keep my brain functioning. I can't just sit there like Ford wants me too and play act all of the time. I need to keep thinking. Its just part of who I am."

"I use all the extra work that I have for after my duties on the Bridge, so that I can feel useful again and solve more complicated problems than just writing and running simple diagnostic sweeps that I usually write in my head at night."

"Why don't you just quit doing them? I mean there are plenty of other things that you can do on SeaQuest.

"That's where most of the problem is, Shep. The Captain asked me to do them, so I do them, out of respect to him….."

"Because you feel that you owe him something," Shep finished.

"Kinda, I guess," Lucas shrugged, thinking it was the most plausible answer. "I want a challenge. That's why I have been doing all that other work."

Lucas was clearly battling with himself with every passing minute, thinking more about what Shep said about confronting Bridger about his duties aboard the SeaQuest.

"How do I tell them that I am bored with it all?"

"I don't want to go to Bridger and have to tell him that I have let him down and just want to quit the whole idea. I can't be the military person that I think most of the crew assumes I am aspiring to be. I am not looking for a career in the Navy."

"For now, SeaQuest is my home, one of the best I have known……..," Lucas began.

"But you think that one day soon, it has to end abruptly," Shep finished for him again.

"Makes sense doesn't it? Everything else in my life has turned out that way so far. Bridger and the crew can't wet-nurse me forever."

"I can see it from your point of view, Lucas," Shep agreed. "But I don't even want to pretend to tell you how to fix the problem."

Bridger and the crew couldn't believe what they were hearing. Lucas wasn't kidding when he said that the problem bothering him was more complex. None of them had any idea that this is what was troubling their young friend and crew member.

Ford had no idea that was how Lucas felt about his duties on the Bridge. Given his intellect, he guessed the teenager could adapt quicker than other crew members.

Kristin could hear the insecurity and apprehension in the young man's voice about his future both aboard SeaQuest and his relationship with Nathan.

"You know, I have even been tempted to look at some of the offers that you have been sending me lately……….," Lucas said in a softer voice, not knowing what sort of reaction Shep would have to such an admission.

"Well, when you are on shore leave next week, why don't you take a closer look at them?" Shep prodded, knowing which offers Lucas was talking about.

"I don't know, Shep, it makes me feel a bit like a traitor," Lucas responded.

"Its not being a traitor. Like you said, you could name your price. I get offers nearly every day to send to you, but I only forward the really good ones to you. Actually I didn't think you even to bother looking at them."

"What sort of offers is he talking about, Captain?" Ben asked with concern. More secrets he thought to himself, but also getting an uncomfortable feeling at hearing the stress that Lucas had been placing on himself during the tour.

"I have no idea, Ben," Bridger answered, liking it even less than Krieg.

"Don't write them off completely, Lucas," Shep suggested. "Like you said, you have to keep your future in the back of your mind sometimes."

Lucas stopped talking for a minute, knowing that he had admitted a lot more about what he was feeling lately than he had wanted to.

Shep could see that Lucas didn't really want to continue that line of discussion right now either.

"Time's up," he poked in fun, looking at his watch. "I declare the meeting of the Sigmund Freud Association officially closed," he added with a laugh. Lucas smirked at his friend's quick wit and sense of humour.

"How much do I owe you this time," Lucas joked.

"Well you know, just like you, my services don't come cheap anymore," Shep said in mock seriousness.

"What, 2.00 or 3.00 dollars?" Lucas offered in jest.

"Make it 3.00 and we will call it even."

"Done," Lucas said and the two boys laughed along with each other as they played around.

Lucas was relieved that he had gotten his point of view across to Shep and that his friend had been willing to listen long enough to the whole story. He might not have found a solution yet, but some of the burden was lifting from his shoulders.

* * *

Now it was Shep's turn to completely change the topic of conversation. "Speaking of how to you are going to tell Bridger and the Doctor, have you gotten your invite yet?"

"Yeah, I got it three weeks ago, like you."

"So………… have you thought about it?" Shep asked with anticipation.

Kristin looked at Bridger to see if he remembered Lucas talking about any kind of invitation. Lucas hadn't made any mention to her about it.

The crew wondered what sort of event it was an invitation to and why like everything else they had heard secretly about tonight, Lucas hadn't mentioned or said anything about it.

"Yes, I thought about it……..," Lucas stated, leaving the sentenced unfinished.

"Well………… a decision?"

"I don't know if I am ready to go back, Shep," Lucas said in complete seriousness.

"Come on Lucas, you have to go. Its not like you have anything better to do, especially after what you told me tonight."

"It is not that, Shep and you know it."

"I know how you feel about going back……. how it scares you a little," Shep said, trying to convince his friend without forcing him.

"A little," Lucas scoffed. _Maybe more than a little, Shep _he thought to himself.

"I am not scared because I am afraid of going there, Shep. I just don't want to have to remember that's all," Lucas tried to explain.

Bridger thought about Lucas's response to his friend's questions, thinking that Lucas did sound apprehensive about something. With his open admission that he didn't want to remember, the Captain's curiosity grew considerably.

"Nick is going to be there, Juliana is going to be there, I am going to be there. It won't seem the same without you. You can't wimp out on us, Lucas."

A small smile crept over Lucas's face at the thought of Juliana being there. "I don't even know if Juliana is still talking to me at the moment."

"Oh, she's talking alright," Shep taunted him. "Something about……….," he continued, knowing that his friend would automatically know what his next few words would be.

"Don't you dare!" Lucas warned his friend, but laughing as he spoke. "You say anything _ever_ and your dead."

"You got to decide soon, Lucas. Replies have to be back in a couple of days. Do you know how many times Nick has already contacted me today asking if you are coming?"

"How many?" Lucas joked.

"Too many! If you don't promise me you will come, I am going to put down your name on his sister's visitors list."

"You know, Eunice is always asking about you, Lucas," Shep taunted further. "I could tell her how to contact you."

"No!, No!" Lucas pleaded in mock fright. "What sort of a friend are you anyway. Nick's sister, Oh My God, Shep are you nuts? I would never survive something like that!"

Shep could be heard laughing heartily at Lucas's discomfort when it came to mentioning Wolfman's sister. The girl was nice enough, but had never been too subtle about the idea that she thought Lucas was cute. Nick and Shep were known to rib their friend about it endlessly.

"Who is Eunice?" Miguel Ortiz asked in a quiet voice, trying to follow the conversation, but none of the crew sitting with him had heard her name mentioned before.

Those listening to the conversation between the two friends, noted a marked difference in the exchanges from Lucas and Shep. The Bridge crew could hear Lucas loosening up after the more serious discussion they had just heard earlier.

The mention of Lucas's girlfriend Juliana made them all curious too. The teenager had always appeared too shy when it came to mentioning her name, and rarely divulged any information about any of the time they had shared together on a few occasions.

Ben Krieg smiled to himself that he knew a little more about the developing relationship between Lucas and the young girl. He was the one of few who knew about the teenager sneaking off to the Sanger Institute to attend some party being thrown by Biff Pickering.

Bridger gave a wry smile as well, at what he knew about Lucas's secret rendezvous with Juliana. After all, it had been him that received the late night call from the police when the teenager was picked up for speeding back to the SeaQuest in the stinger. But, he hadn't received a full run down of what happened at the party either.

* * *

"Did you actually read the invitation and the itinerary and see what they have cooked up for us all?" Shep asked, still trying to convince his friend that going was the best idea.

"Yes, I did. I was looking at it the other night, but Krieg came in after that, so I to put it away. I haven't had a chance to look back at it in the last couple of days."

Ben now knew that the piece of paper was that Lucas had been reading them he had gone to check on the teenager and ask about his holiday destination choice.

"Its only for ten days, Lucas," Shep kept prodding. "You are going to be on shore leave for three weeks. Still plenty of time to do other things afterwards."

"Yes, Shep, ten days. And if I did decide to go, then I would be very happy for the Captain and Kristin to come with me. I just don't know if they would want to stick around for all that time being dragged around the place."

"There are lots of things for them to see too," Shep pointed out. "They won't be the only family and friends there you know."

"Yeah, I guess there would be some great stuff to show them. Ben might have a good time too," Lucas agreed, starting to be persuaded that going was a positive thing. Deep inside though, he still had that niggling feeling about reminiscing down memory lane.

"The Captain has been at me for weeks to decide on somewhere to go for a vacation," Lucas said quietly, thinking how he could word his idea to the three of them.

"Can't hurt to ask, Lucas. The worst they can say is '_no'._ But even if they do, you still have to come. I will drag your ass kicking and screaming if necessary."

"So who are you bringing?" Lucas asked casually, knowing that Shep didn't have any siblings or parents to invite.

Shep sounded embarrassed as he answered truthfully, "Grandpa Ralph……..,"

Lucas burst out laughing at that admission from his friend, "Grandpa Ralph! Is this the same grandfather who used to show up and tell everybody some insane story about when he was in the war?"

"The same."

"And despite this knowledge, you willingly invited him?" Lucas teased.

"Not like I had any other choice to put on the reply, Lucas," Shep said, but knew that his friend was aware of his grandfather's antics.

"Braver than me, is all I have to say. Does he still own that stupid bottle green van that he used for the car pool?" Lucas asked.

"Um, no Lucas, he doesn't drive that van anymore……..," leaving the answer short, not quite sure how his friend would take it that he was now driving the dilapidated vehicle instead of his grandfather. He had been intending to use it for the trip with Lucas and Nick.

"So who is Nick going to ask?" Lucas questioned.

"Well, you know when it comes to Wolfy, its not a question of asking anybody. His mother told him to put her and Eunice, and I am fairly sure Cassie was giving him a hard time about it too."

"Boy, is he cornered on all sides," Lucas said, feeling a little sorry for his other best friend.

"You said it. Me and him both have signed our death warrants."

"Makes he kinda grateful that I am thinking of asking the Captain and Kristin to come."

"Hey, that's not fair to us either. You have to at least bring your real bastard parents along once and we can all be miserable together on that day. Why should you miss out on all the fun?" Shep jibed.

"There is absolutely no chance of that, Shep," Lucas said, but refused to say anything further. The teenager knew that Shep was aware of his past and about Lawrence and Cynthia, but mentioning them at anytime was never a pleasant experience for him.

Bridger was surprised as he had been earlier at how well Lucas had accepted a second mention of his parents during the last hour or so.

By now, Lucas was again yawning frequently, and Shep was about to call it a night and give his friend the chance to get some sleep. He was surprised that Lucas had stayed awake now as long as he could, but he had enjoyed what they had talked about.

"So………. you going to tell me you are coming or not?" Shep asked one final time for the night, looking at the time and noting it only a few minutes before midnight.

"I will think about it some more and let you know," Lucas replied, not wanting himself to commit to any more of an answer than that.

"Tomorrow……….," he added tiredly as he folded his arms on the table again and resting his head on the crude pillow.

"Talk to you then," Shep said, preparing to finish the vid-link call.

Lucas didn't say anything further but lifted his arm up briefly and gestured a goodbye wave with this hand, terminating the call on his end, including the link to the Bridge.

* * *

"Where do you think this invitation is to, Nathan?" Kristin asked.

"I don't know, but I am going to go and try to talk to him, if he will let me. Hopefully about more than just the invitation," Bridger said as he thought about the other more worrisome topics of conversation that had been brought up.

"I don't want to come right out and asked him about it, or anything else we all heard. Or he is going to be mad that we heard everything."

The crew present could only nod their heads in agreement at that statement, knowing that none of them could mention anything they had heard between the two friends.

"Captain, what did you want me to do about Lucas's shift on the Bridge scheduled for tomorrow morning, Sir," Commander Ford asked, having taken note of what the teenager had said.

"Oh, I think Lucas is entitled to a bit of a sleep in tomorrow morning, don't you think, Commander." Bridger replied. "After that, we will just take things one day at a time." he added, meaning any discussion about future shifts.

"Absolutely, Captain, but did you want me to find someone else to take his place?" Ford queried.

"I don't think you need to worry about replacing him on the Bridge, Jonathan. I think everyone here is capable of taking over those duties," Bridger began to answer, "But I do believe our Mr Cooper deserves to have a little _'extra work'_ don't you? Seeing as how he is so adept at handing it out to other crew members without permission."

"Understood, Captain," Ford said with a smile, knowing that Cooper was in for a bit of a surprise over the next few days before they docked.

"I can deliver that message personally if you like, Captain," Ben offered, balling one hand into a fist and signaling the 'discussion' that he intended for the little weasel.

"That won't be necessary, Lieutenant. But you have it on my authority to make sure that he doesn't do something like that again," Bridger told him, hoping that Krieg would be responsible enough not to take his displeasure out on the man, no matter how they all felt about his early wake up call to Lucas.

Ben knew what the Captain was getting at and reluctantly agreed.

"I am going to talk to Lucas," Bridger said, getting up from his central console. He looked at Kristin and Ben before walking away.

"If he does decide to come and ask us about this invitation tomorrow, please just listen. He might be right, wherever it is might be worthwhile."

"It sounded like his friend almost talked him into agreeing anyway," Kristin said. "He might get to spend more time with people his own age."

* * *

In the short time that Bridger took to finish talking to Kristin and Ben on the Bridge, and then walking the few corridors to his room, Lucas had made himself get up and pack up his computer and other belongings.

He had resigned himself to the fact that he wasn't going to get anymore work done in the Captain's quarters that night, knowing that Bridger would turn up soon after his shift.

With everything piled up and sitting on the central console, ready to pick up on his way out, he briefly went back tothe couch that he was using as a desk earlier in the evening, and sat down. He hadn't meant to stay but a second or two. There was no more coffee left.

The softness of the cushions as he sat down was very inviting, and before he could string another coherent thought together about getting up and moving back to his own cabin, Lucas's head leaned back against one of the side arms.

Another breath, and he was asleep, still seated and slumped awkwardly on the couch.

Bridger opened the hatch door, and noted that the lights in the room were still on. They were dimmer, and the room was bathed in a softer hue.

The Captain could see the holographic image of his friend Professor Martinson, "Good Evening, Nathan."

"Hello," Bridger greeted back. "What is with the lights?" The Captain could see Lucas's work material piled up on the desk in front of the image. The vid-link screen was now dark.

"Forgive me, but I took the liberty of turning them down so as not to disturb the young man," Martinson answered.

It was now that Bridger walked over to the couch and his attention was drawn to Lucas who had curled up on one end.

The teenager was sound asleep and had not heard anyone enter the room.

"How long has he been like this?" Bridger asked, thinking that it couldn't have been to long because of the call with Shep.

"Only a few minutes," Martinson replied. "I don't think it was his intention to fall asleep there."

"No, probably not," Bridger said, smiling at little at the peaceful look that Lucas held in slumber. He could see faint signs of fatigue on the boy's face that they had heard in his voice earlier.

"Lucas," Bridger called softly, brushing the back of his hand gently along the boy's cheek.

If the teenager had only been asleep for a moment or two, he might be successful in getting to move to a bed, even if it was his own bunk. He would be more comfortable. But he received no response.

Bridger was loathe to disturb him any further, and instead, walked over to a small closet in the room, retrieving two pillows and a blanket. Lucas hadn't stirred at all with his touch.

He lifted the boy's shoulders slightly, and placed the two pillows against the arm rest, lowering his head onto them. Lucas mumbled something briefly, but then buried his face deeper into the fabric, giving a contented sigh.

The Captain now lifted the boy's legs and stretched them along the couch and then covering the youth with the blanket. It didn't look like Lucas was going to wake for the remainder of the night.

"After a nice long sleep, Lucas, you and I are going to have to have a talk," he whispered to the slumbering teenager.

to be continued.

**Author Notes: Okay – very long opening chapter I know. But once I started writing, I just got carried away. Most of it is just set up for later chapters – and if anything hasn't been explained fully yet – some of it is deliberate. The readers get to be in the dark a little as much as the SeaQuest crew about things talked about. LOL**

**There was a lot more to put into this chapter – like the asking to go and some remembering of old friends – but that will all be in the next chapter. Any new characters that I have introduced, will be explained more as I go.**

**Any background information about their families, is made up or from brief mentions in other stories that I have already written.**

**The idea of Lucas not liking the work on the Bridge, was just a random idea, but I could always see the potential problem that Lucas might not want to stay on SeaQuest forever, and because of his intelligence, getting bored easily.**

**Please let me know what you think of the opening chapter. I do intend this story to be quite a long one – with many different things happening.**

**I did steal a line from Tony Piccolo from the second season for this chapter.**

**The next story to be updated should be "The Gunfighter" – very close to finishing next chapter – then it will be "A Perfect World." – so please keep reading – and I hope you are enjoying the writing so far.**

Jules


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